HONOLULU, Hawaii -- The two slain Honolulu police officers in Sunday’s shooting have been identified as police spent Monday combing the charred home for the remains of the suspect and possibly two women who remain unaccounted for.
Flags are being flown at half-staff statewide this week for officers Tiffany Enriquez and Kaulike Kalama, Gov. David Ige said. Both federal and state flags would also be half-staff from sunrise till sunset on the day each of the officers is buried, Ige added. They had served seven and nine years on the force, respectively, an emotional Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said.
Both officers were parents, a choked-up Ballard said at a press conference late Sunday. She herself had worked very closely with both of them.
They were allegedly shot to death by Jarovlav “Jerry” Hanel, 69, Ballard said, who opened fire after stabbing his landlord as she sought to evict him. He had lived there in return for doing maintenance work, his lawyer, Jonathan Burge, told the Associated Press. He then set fire to the house, which was quickly engulfed in flames that spread to neighboring houses, ultimately torching several.
“We are almost certain his body is in the house,” Ballard said, according to KITV-TV.
Besides the two officer deaths, another cop was wounded, the suspect’s landlord was hospitalized with stab wounds, seven houses were destroyed, and a dozen other homes suffered damage. In addition, two unidentified women who may have been in the bungalow when the suspect set it ablaze may also have died inside the structure, police said.
More than 200 first responders from the Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, FBI and the Queen’s Medical Center, stepped up during the emergency, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said, according to KITV.
Hanel did not have a gun permit, AP and other outlets reported. He had acted out enough that at least three neighbors had restraining orders against him, but he had not ever been violent. The officers were wearing bullet-resistant vests.
Ballard also said it could take days for authorities to process evidence from the home and locate remains. Investigators were still waiting for the house to cool down enough to enter, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday.
The Waikiki Beach neighborhood where the tragedy unfolded remained without power on Monday, and the streets were open only to vehicular traffic, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
“These officers paid the ultimate price to ensure the safety of our community,” Ige said in a news release. “As we honor their sacrifice, we grieve with their families.”
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